Printed images are created when a printing system transfers an imaging medium, such as liquid toner (hereinafter referred to as “ink”), onto a print media as dots that form a printed image. Printed images can include any form of printed characters, text, and/or graphics. One of the image attributes that define print quality is whether the dots of the printed image are visible. If the dots that form a printed image are independently visible, then the printed image will appear “grainy” and objectionable rather than as a smooth, clear image. For example, darker in color and/or larger dots are more visible, particularly when printed on white print media.
Some current printing systems attempt to reduce the grainy appearance of a printed image by reducing either the dot size of the dots that form a printed image or the density of the ink to lighten the color of the dots that form the printed image. Other printing systems use additional lighter inks in conjunction with standard darker inks to reduce the grainy appearance of a printed image. The lighter inks produce less visible dots of a printed image which reduces the grainy appearance of the image, such as for highlights where a lighter ink results in less visible dots.
It is typical to have four printing stations in a printing device, one each for the common cyan, yellow, magenta, and black (CYMB) colors. Additional printing stations with the lighter inks may be added to a printing device to produce the lighter colors in a printed image. Accordingly, a printing device may have a printing station with an ink of a standard color (e.g., cyan, yellow, magenta, or black), and an additional printing station with a composition variation of the ink that appears lighter in color in a printed image. These additional printing stations increase both the manufacturing and operational costs of the printing device, and creates a need to develop, manufacture, stock, and distribute the additional lighter inks.